Eagles Sign Two More Men’s Basketball Players

Eastern Washington University men’s basketball coach
Jim Hayford has added to his 2013 recruiting class
by signing junior college point guard Drew Brandon
and 6-foot-7 forward Ognjen Miljkovic from Bishop
Montgomery High School in California to letters of intent to attend
EWU and play for the Eagles next year.

The 6-foot-3 Brandon played for Sierra College in Rocklin,
Calif., and is originally from Corona, Calif., where he attended
Santiago High School. In his second year at Sierra, the Wolverines
finished 19-8. He had a 38-point performance last January to help
him earn player of the month accolades among all California junior
colleges.

“We are really excited to sign Drew,” said Hayford.
“We feel like he is one of the top junior college point
guards on the West Coast. He came from a very successful program at
Sierra College with an outstanding coach I have known for 20 years,
John Fusano. He raves about Drew’s ability. What impresses us
the most is that he is a three-dimensional player, meaning he can
shoot the ball, he can drive the ball and he can pass the ball. He
gives us great size in the point guard position.”

Miljkovic is from Belgrade, Serbia, but played his last two
years at Bishop Montgomery, which was 33-2 overall in the 2012-13
season and was at one point ranked No. 8 nationally. His first name
is pronounced “Ahg-nehn” and his last name is
pronounced “Meal-ko-vich.” Although they never played
together, Eastern guard Tyler Harvey also played for Bishop
Montgomery, which had four players from this year’s team sign
with NCAA Division I schools.

“Ognjen joins us after two years at one of the top
high school programs in California at Bishop Montgomery High
School,” Hayford said. “He played for coach Doug
Mitchell, who is an outstanding coach. It is the same program we
were able to recruit Tyler Harvey from. We feel he is the type of
player that will fit very well in our system. He is a big man who
can shoot the three-point shot, but he has multiple offensive
skills. Ognjen had a number of options of schools he could have
chosen from, and we are really excited he selected Eastern
Washington.”

Previously signed high school players by the Eagles include
Australian forward Felix Von Hofe and guard
Sir Washington from Las Vegas, Nev.

“When you look at this class as a whole with Sir
Washington and Felix Von Hofe, I feel like we have added the next
layer of the base that we needed to have,” added Hayford, who
is entering his third year at the helm. “That base will
enable our program to sustain success year-to-year.”

JC: Played two seasons at Sierra College in
Rocklin, Calif. In his sophomore season, Brandon was a first team
All-Big 8 Conference selection and earned honorable mention
All-State accolades. He finished the year averaging 15.5 points,
7.4 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Brandon was
named the 2013 California Community College Athletic Association
(CCCAA) and California Community College Sports Information
Association Male Athlete of the Month for January. In seven games
in January, he averaged 19.3 points, 7.7 assists, 7.1 rebounds, and
3.9 steals per game. On Jan. 25 against American River College,
Brandon scored 38 points, pulled in nine boards, handed out nine
assists, and had four steals. He scored 11 of Sierra’s final
13 points in the 77-66 victory. Said Wolverine Head Coach John
Fusano: “Maybe only one other time in all my years of
coaching, have I seen an individual performance like Drew had
against ARC. ARC came in poised to beat us and Drew made sure that
didn’t happen.” Sierra went on to finish 19-8 overall
and 10-4 in the Big 8 Conference . The Wolverines were ranked in
the top 10 among all California junior colleges, and lost 64-60 to
West Valley in the second round of the CCCAA Playoffs. As a
freshman, he earned honorable mention All-Big 8 honors.

HS: Graduated from Santiago High School in
2010. He played two years of varsity basketball for head coach
David Humphries. As a senior he averaged 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds,
2.9 steals and 1.1 assists per game in helping the team finish
13-15. He scored 20 or more points nine times in his senior season
as he earned first team all-league honors.

Personal: Parents are Gregory and Janet
Brandon. Is considering majoring in communications.

HS: Miljkovic is from Belgrade, Serbia, but
played his last two years at Bishop Montgomery High School. The
Knights were 33-2 overall in the 2012-13 season and was at one
point ranked No. 8 nationally and second among high schools in
California. Bishop Montgomery won four games to capture the
Southern Section of the CIF Playoffs, then won three games in the
CIF Division IV State Tournament. The team’s outstanding
season came to an end with a 73-69 loss to Pacific Hills in the
semifinals. As a senior, he averaged 17 points and nine rebounds
per game to earn All-Del Rey League accolades. He scored 12 of his
23 points in the fourth quarter when the Knights improved to 19-0
on the season with a 74-63 victory on Jan. 13 over St. John Bosco.
He played in a pair of all-star games following his senior season.
As a junior, the Knights finished 23-5 and lost in the semifinals
of the CIF Southern Section Playoffs. Three of his teammates also
signed with NCAA Division I schools in 2013 -- Lamond Murray
(Pepperdine), Stefan Jovanovic (Hawaii) and Niko Filipovich
(Hawaii). Although they never played together in high school,
Eastern guard Tyler Harvey also played for Bishop Montgomery.
Miljkovic also played for the Pump n’ Run AAU basketball team
in California. While in Serbia, Miljkovic competed internationally
on several national youth teams in Serbia.

Personal: Born 12/28/93 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Nickname is “O.G.” and is used a lot in place of his
difficult-to-pronounce first name. Parents are Rade and Danijela
Miljkovic. Name is pronounced “Ahg-nehn
Meal-ko-vich.”